These days, there’s a great deal of hoopla surrounding social media marketing, and with good reason. Truth be told, few are the ways in which brands can both consistently and intimately connect with current and potential customers.

Social media marketing—more specifically, Instagram marketing—makes this a real possibility. But if we’re being completely honest with ourselves, there’s yet another key player in the digital marketing world that’s often overlooked …

Ready? Email marketing.

Yup, not nearly as sexy as you’d thought it would be—it’s old, overcrowded and oftentimes flat-out annoying. Though Instagram gives social marketers instant access to a healthy body of brand fans, email is the most direct line of communication a company has with an audience—and it’s not likely to go away anytime soon.

As such, the ideal outcome is for a digital marketer to use Instagram as a funnel through which leads can be generated. Email takes said leads, works them through a need-driven sales funnel and purchases are inevitably made.

It’s as simple as that.

But how is all of this to be accomplished using Instagram? While the email side of things is an entire beast of its own, believe it or not, it only takes three simple steps to attract enough email ammunition to make routine, predictable sales. Keep reading—below, you’ll see what we’re talking about:

1) Create an Attractive, Must-Have Opt-In

First, sit down with your staff, and think critically about what matters most in the lives of your customers. What problems do they face? What information do they lack? What do they stand in genuine need of? Though you likely can’t solve every problem, pick something specific, and provide the solution in the form a what’s known as a lead magnet.

Lead magnets come in all shapes and sizes. From coupons and worksheets to mini courses and e-books, a great lead magnet makes handing over personal information a cinch. Whether you prefer to call it a “lead magnet” or an “opt-in,” the value of your featured content freebie should have people thinking to themselves, “I would’ve given up good money for this—what a steal.”

With this mentality firmly in place, names and email addresses (the currency, in this case) come pouring in. But wait—what does Instagram have to do with all of this digital marketing madness. It’s really quite simple—to obtain your lead magnet, customers will first see promotional posts on Instagram, head to your bio and click on your one clickable ink to get it.

2) Build an Instagram-Only Landing Page

Where does said link lead customers, you ask? Common sense would say to your company’s website; however, the link should actually redirect Instagram fans to a landing page where your lead magnet can easily be obtained. This is most effective in that it eliminates potential customer confusion, and allows you to properly measure the effectiveness of your Instagram marketing.

Once a name and email address has been submitted, your new lead has what he or she wanted in the form of free, valuable content, and you’re able to connect with the aforementioned lead through email whenever you like. Newsletters, company updates and soft sells are all part of the deal—armed with a robust backlog of email addresses, you’re good to go.

3) Place a Powerful CTA In You Instagram Bio

Last thing, here—creating an awesome lead magnet and an optimized landing page are both important, but without an enticing call-to-action (CTA) placed within the the body of your Instagram bio and on Instagram posts themselves, clicks and downloads are likely to plummet. With them, your number of obtained emails will plummet, too.

Instead, do things the right way, thinking of a short, yet powerful way to invite users to click on your landing page link and build an emotional connection with your brand. Though it might seem complicated, this important step is far too easy to skip. Craft a high-quality CTA, and sit back as Instagram helps improve your company’s email marketing effort.

Conclusion

Content might very well be king, and social media marketing might be today’s hottest marketing trend, but email marketing is here for the long haul. Because of this, combine all three for an extra-stellar digital marketing output. So, what are you waiting for? Log into Instagram now, and start growing your email list.